Julie Plec on Nina Dobrev's Exit: We Will Miss the 400 Characters She Played

The Vampire Diaries executive producer Julie Plec has released a statement regarding Nina Dobrev‘s surprise departure from the show.

“Saying goodbye to Nina is both bittersweet and beautiful. After six-plus years together, the entire cast and crew of The Vampire Diaries has reached a level of closeness that I don’t think any of us ever expected,” Julie said in a statement. “Nina is excited to spread her wings, get some rest, travel the world and also take it by storm, and we support her a thousand-fold.”

She continued, “We will miss Nina and the four hundred characters she played, but we look forward to the insane and exciting challenge of continuing to tell stories of our Salvatore Brothers and our much-loved and gifted ensemble.”

Julie also opened up about Michael Trevino‘s future on the show. (He has been cast in the ABC pilot Kingmakers).

“Michael has been a beloved member of the Vampire Diaries family since day one. Even though he’s also going to be out in the world exploring new opportunities, we look forward to finding creative ways to make sure he and his character Tyler Lockwood always remain a part of the show.”

Nina Confirms Exit From The Vampire Diaries

I’ve just spent the most beautiful weekend on Lake Lanier in Georgia with my own TVD Family, the cast and crew of The Vampire Diaries. I want to be the first to tell you that it wasn’t just a holiday celebration, it was a goodbye party. I always knew I wanted Elena’s story to be a six season adventure, and within those six years I got the journey of a lifetime. I was a human, a vampire, a doppelganger, a crazy immortal, a doppelganger pretending to be human, a human pretending to be a doppelganger. I got kidnapped, killed, resurrected, tortured, cursed, body-snatched, was dead and undead, and there’s still so much more to come before the season finale in May. Elena fell in love not once, but twice, with two epic soulmates, and I myself made some of the best friends I’ll ever know and built an extended family I will love forever.

There’s more to come before we wrap this up, and I promise you’ll get to hear all about my experiences over the next month as we approach the season finale (I have given an exclusive interview for the June issue of SELF Magazine that I am excited for you to see!), but until then I invite you to hop on the roller coaster ride that is Elena Gilbert’s life and join me as I celebrate her and prepare to say goodbye to her — and to my work family — as I move on to the next chapter of my life. I want to share this goodbye with all of you (this weekend’s pictures were just the beginning). You, the wonderful fandom who gave more love, support and passion than anyone could have ever imagined seven years ago, when a young Degrassi girl from Canada showed up in LA to audition for ‘that Twilight TV show.’ ;-) I love you all. Fasten your seatbelts. If you think you know what’s coming, you don’t.

Latest From EW

Will Stefan and Damon ever have a normal relationship with their mother on The Vampire Diaries? — SusieThat probably depends on your definition of normal. After all, much like Stefan, Lily is a creature of extreme guilt. “She has a lot of torment inside of her,” Annie Wersching says. “And then adding this guilt that she feels for what the boys think of her and think that she did to them, [it] really messes with her.” According to Wersching, Mama Salvatore will have a bit of trouble adjusting to her present-day life, and the same goes for her relationship with her sons. However, she does note, “They do eventually become their own version of a mother-son relationship.” Reageren

The Vampire Diaries Webclips 6x13 The Day I Tried to Live

The Vampire Diaries Synopsis 6x15 Let Her Go

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER JULIE PLEC MAKES HER DIRECTORIAL DEBUT — After assigning tasks to each of her friends, Caroline (Candice Accola) attempts to deal with her current situation as reality begins to set in around her. While spending the day with Caroline, Elena (Nina Dobrev) grows concerned when she starts noticing a strange change in her behavior. Meanwhile, Alaric (Matt Davis) becomes wary when Kai (guest star Chris Wood), who has begun experiencing unexpected consequences from the merge, turns to Jo (guest star Jodi Lyn O’Keefe), desperate for her help. Elsewhere, while Bonnie (Kat Graham) finds herself in an unfamiliar situation, Matt (Zach Roerig) and Tyler (Michael Trevino) contemplate a major life change. And when Damon (Ian Somerhalder) offers Caroline advice on how to cope with everything going on around her, it forces him to revisit painful memories involving his own mother.